The Symbolism Of Words In Shakespeare's Macbeth

To succeed in ruling the throne, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plot to murder Duncan and in doing so they both switch gender roles. Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about the Witches’ prophecy of him being king. Her reaction is different than you would expect. She puts him down by mocking his masculinity and by doing so, she states that in order for them to be successful, he needs to listen and follow what she is saying as she states, “Yet do I fear thy nature;/ It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness/To catch nearest way” (1.5.16-18). Shakespeare uses this rhetorical device to describe the personality of Macbeth in Lady Macbeth’s eyes. She uses the milk of human kindness to say that Macbeth cares. Due to Macbeth being kind and compassionate, Lady Macbeth does not think he will be able to go along with the prophecy the witches’ told him. Lady Macbeth speaks to Macbeth as if he is a coward and is not acting like a man. Men were typically in control over woman by having total control over the household. With Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth, a leading character in William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Macbeth, progresses throughout the play from a savage and heartless creature to a delicate and fragile woman, having no regard for mortality.

“Come to my woman’s breasts And take my milk for gall.” One would assume here that if one of the two were to have the strength of mind to live through this evil tragedy it would be Lady Macbeth. Shakespeare is entering into this very interior of Macbeth’s mind allowing the audience to realise further differences between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth at this stage is going deeper and deeper into the world of evil. “Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse The curtained sleep.” Macbeth realized that in obtaining the crown by foul play he is devaluing as the king is meant to be appointed by God. By now, Macbeth is able to have the courage to look into the heart of fear; lady Macbeth on the other hand is unable to do this.

Lady Macbeth pleads that her breast milk be turned to bile. A womans breasts have the natural function to feed, and is a source of life for a growing baby, while bile is a bitter, foul green coloured substance made in the liver which provides no nourishment. This again links back to the central theme of the reversal of nature. Lady Macbeth also pleads

We see her as a suppressed female clawing to power through men. The most notable scene where Shakespeare conveys this is Act 1 Scene 5. He has Lady Macbeth say, “unsex me here”, demanding elimination of all womanly attributes. She also says, “take my milk for gall”. This demonstrates she does not want to be a nurturing, mother figure. Lady Macbeth thinks her femininity is useless and that she could accomplish more as a male. In the Elizabethan/Jacobean era, women were often subjugated – made to submit to and follow men, regarded as weak and in need of protection. Given no control, women were forced to stay home and bear children. Lady Macbeth yearns liberation from these stereotypes and ideal standards of her time. Her authority cravings lead her to tell Macbeth, “Leave all the rest to me” – seeking dominance. Her husband is essential to succeed so she can be interpreted as somewhat manipulating him into committing larger crimes – namely

In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth evil is conveyed in many ways through characters, themes and settings. Many themes are explored in detail contributing hugely to the sense of evil with characters being used along with these themes to create evil within the characters. These themes and characters are shown in different settings at different times consequently affecting the mood and atmosphere of the play.

     Shakespeare used clothing both symbolically and as a vehicle of character definition. Clothes were often used in Macbeth's case to symbolize his titles.  Symbolic clothing is identified when Ross tells Macbeth of his new title Thane of Cawdor when Macbeth does not know of the Thane's treason,

Upon this realization, Lady Macbeth indicates a newfound desire to be rid of her feminine qualities, seeking instead to replace them with masculine counterparts. Crying out, Lady Macbeth declares, “Come, you spirits. That tend on mortal thought! Unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top full of direst cruelty” (1. 5. 38-41). Her abstinence towards the limitations of gender thus set her down the road to madness.

It is interesting to note the importance of gender in the personifications of evil in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is as obsessed with her gender as her evil. When she implores evil to "unsex" her, to take her "woman's breasts for gall" she reveals the sense of powerlessness and weakness she feels. Being a woman makes her dependant on her husband for her social

“Maternal power in Macbeth,” Janet Adelman writes, “is not embodied in the figure of a particular mother (as it is in Coriolanus); it is instead diffused throughout the play” (Adelman 131). This “maternal malevolence”(131) is introduced with the witches, but quickly spreads to Lady Macbeth. After she learns of his encounter with the witches and his plot to usurp the

With the visit to King Duncan, the King announces that his son Malcolm will be heir to the throne. In Macbeth’s mind, all he can think about is murdering the King and all that will come along with it. Macbeth sends a letter to his wife telling of all that has happened and to prepare for the King’s visit. In order to keep the murder in her mind she doesn’t want anything to get in her way, so she even goes to the point of seeking evil and not wanting to be a women-afraid of the feminine ways which will interfere in the murder. When Lady Macbeth says, “Come, you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full/ Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood; (I v ll. 44-47) it shows how far Lady Macbeth is willing to go to make sure her husband and herself gets to the top. She even goes to the point to call upon the spirits to unsex her and fill her with cruelty to make sure that here feminine ways don’t cause the plan to go wrong.

imagine how Shakespeare play would be without the ingenious literary devices it is a tragedy that it combines fact and tell stories of a very malicious king who will destroy anything that stands in his way to his ambitions. lady Macbeth is a driving force who support iher husband in everything he does because she loves him, she encourages him to do anything that he has to do to get his crown. Lady Macbeth, she stands out as a strong women in the Shakespeare play, she showed that she can stand out as an independent women by stating this line from the play “Come to my woman’s Breasts, and take my milk for gall” this that quote that reveals how ruthless and strong lady

Correspondingly, Macbeth’s demise is all the more stimulated by his dark partner, Lady Macbeth. Her insecurity as a woman in addition to her own hunger for power is a key supplement to Macbeth’s twisted end. Her reaction to Macbeth’s letter detailing the witches’ prophecy is quite disturbing. She reveals her fear that Macbeth’s nature “is too full o’ the milk of kindness” (1.5.29). This is in spite of the fact that as Thane of Glamis, he is known to be savage and merciless. Then, Lady Macbeth vows to taint Macbeth’s kindness and to “pour my spirits in the thine ear” (1.5.29). Later in the play, before their dinner party for King Duncan, the Lady is found to be doing just this. She kickstarts her husband’s

In the play “Macbeth”, William Shakespeare uses belief in the existence and power of witches to create and influence the audience’s understanding of the play. Our initial impression of Macbeth is one of a brave and capable warrior, however once we see his interaction with the three “evil sisters” (Shakespeare, 1996) we realises that his physical audacity is coupled by an intense amount of ambition and self doubt. It is believed that the witches are the motive behind this ambition which eventually leads to his tragedy, however strong diverging arguments are in existence. The intensity of Macbeth’s tragedy is dependent on whether or not the witches are “professed to be able to control the naïve, innocent Macbeth” or whether he is to blame

Lady Macbeth’s burning ambition to be queen drives her to the point of insanity. She stops at nothing to gain power and uses Macbeth as the enforcer for her plans. This power is clearly illustrated as her husband follows her command to kill the king of Scotland, she constantly taunts Macbeth bringing him even further under her control. She is quite the opposite of how we generally assume feminine characters to act, and even begs the gods to remove her femininity at one point, “...Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here...Come to my woman’s breasts, and take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers...” (Shakespeare 12). As Lady Macbeth expresses her desire to become unsexed, we see the link that clearly exists between masculinity and murder. She believes that since she is a woman she cannot be capable of committing such evil deeds, and her reference to her breasts which is generally linked to the idea of nurture, is called upon in reference to her desire to do quite the opposite. Lady Macbeth presents a very strong character throughout the play, and through her actions a very clear picture of a manipulative wife is painted. Though Macbeth is the one to carry out many of the deviant plans, Lady Macbeth’s role is clearly portrayed as the evil mastermind behind the murders.